An: Here's yet another update in honor of Sasuke's birthday. Happy birthday emo boy!
Malicious purple chakra surrounded Sasuke, spiraling around the boy in a manner much like the orange cloak of the Kyuubi's chakra when Naruto was first learning to use it. No distinct shape, just pure chakra twisting and churning.
The blonde glared at the black flame like markings that crawled under Sasuke's shirt. How he wished he could remove the Cursed Seal altogether. But fuuinjutsu wasn't that advanced yet, or at least Konoha's knowledge of it wasn't. Not to mention that the Cursed Seal couldn't just be removed without explanation. There would be a dozen people, the Third Hokage, Kakashi, Anko, Ibiki, the current expers of fuuinjutsu, most prominent, that wouldn't let Naruto get away with saying he didn't know what happened.
If he couldn't provide a reasonable excuse Sasuke might be dragged off for testing if they believed his body could fight off seals or something ridiculous like that.
"Come on, Sasuke," he muttered as the seal showed no sign of receding. "Fight it off. You don't need that power. You don't want to use someone else's power to kill your brother. If you rely on the seal it will become a crutch, and then you'll never be strong enough."
And that was the crux of the matter. Even if Naruto could spin a believable tale, he couldn't take the choice away from Sasuke. It needed to be his choice to accept or deny the power he had been given.
If he still wanted to use it, and Naruto took it away, Sasuke would hate him.
It would be the beginning of another cycle of hatred that Naruto had sworn to end. And when Sasuke hated something, he hated it with his whole being. Like Itachi, Sasuke would not rest until he was dead.
And he wouldn't let Sasuke go gallivanting off after Kabuto for power, like a duckling following its mother. He was supposed to prevent him from leaving the village, and Naruto couldn't do that if Sasuke wanted to kill him.
The Sandaime had been shocked to his core. His village was being invaded. A war could be looming on the horizon.
He had been about to remove the official full length kimono in Konoha's red, the white haori and the pointed hat when Kakashi's female student had jumped in front of him and bold as brass ordered the Kazekage's oldest son to take him away.
Sarutobi had never heard of such insubordination, not even from Kakashi who regarded teammates above all else. Never would the silver haired man have defied his Hokage.
Before he could order the girl, Sakura he thought her name was, to stand down, he was scooped up and wooden slats slid into place with a thunk in front of him. The inside of the puppet was bare and dark, and all Sarutobi could do was stare at the grooves.
He had been caught off guard by a pair of gennin.
Unbelievably, it had taken him a couple minutes to remember that he was the Hokage of the Leaf Village and that a puppet wielded by gennin could not hold him. Hiruzen exhaled a stream of fire, reducing his wooden prison to ashes, and leapt nimbly from its smoldering confines.
Kankuro fell to his knees, brushing all the ashes into a pile. "Black Ant." He cried.
"What in Hashirama's name is going on here?" The Third Hokage demanded.
"Who's name, sir?" The brunette was still frantically sweeping up the ashes like his puppet would magically rebuild itself if he could keep it together.
The Hokage stared at him dumbfounded. He could not believe that the boy did not recognize the name Hashirama. "Never mind. What the blazes do you think you're doing?"
Kankuro's terrified eyes finally met the Hokage's harsh ones. "I'm trying to stay alive. Gaara would have killed me if I hadn't done what the pink haired brat wanted."
Sarutobi kneaded his temple. Clearly he wasn't going to get any answers from Kankuro. The boy had no more clue than he did about why his gennin was ordering him about.
He left the boy to mourn over his incinerated puppet. He was the Hokage. He had a village to defend. The Will of Fire would not be extinguished so easily.
Sakura had been in battles before. She had lived through this invasion once, going up against a murderous unhinged Jinchuuriki. Along with Chiyo she had once taken down the very man that stood before her.
But she had never participated in such a confusing fight.
Sasori perched on his black coil, the spinning blades that gave him flight whirring, and she knew he was going to come at her with a katana as he would have in the future.
And then he disappeared.
She could still hear the sounds of battle around her, but Sasori was gone. Escaped from her barrier.
Sakura couldn't recount what happened after that. The others had taken care of the enemy shinobi in the stands. Naruto was cradling Sasuke and for a second she had a horrible flashback to the day they used the Five Element Seal, when all hope was gone and the future never looked bleaker and the last of her team was dying and she could do nothing about it.
The rest of the Akatsuki had vanished as well, leaving Gai to frantically race her comatose sensei to the hospital. She and Naruto had followed, carrying their dark haired teammate between them.
Unfortunately, none of the medics on staff at the hospital could do anything about Sasuke's broken containment seal. So the two members of Team Seven were forced to watch as the last one waged an internal war.
Then a team of ANBU came and took Sakura away.
Naruto protested, loudly and fervently, and was soundly ignored the by masked shinobi. Sakura let herself be led from the room, telling Naruto that he couldn't leave Sasuke alone.
The blonde sat hunched over in the chair at Sasuke's bedside, anxious. How had it come to this? The Hokage was saved. Akatsuki attacked early. Two of his teammates were in the hospital, both unlikely to wake for a few days. And Sakura was arrested.
Team Seven was falling apart in front of him.
"I don't want this power." Naruto's head shot up at Sasuke's rasp, so fast that it cracked. "I will kill that man on my own."
Naruto grabbed Sasuke's wrist. The dark haired boy did not pull away. "Together." He promised. "We'll help you. You don't have to do it alone."
Sasuke studied him intensively, searching Naruto's cerulean eyes, seeing nothing but determination, strength, and support. He nodded. Naruto and Sakura could help him achieve his revenge.
Speaking of his other teammate, Sasuke's onyx orbs scanned his too white hospital room. "Dobe, where is Sakura?"
Naruto's hand on his arm tensed.
A feeling Sasuke couldn't describe welled up inside him. Panic? Concern? Worry? Disbelief? Had she been injured? Or. . . killed?
His heart twanged, uncomfortable with the idea that Sakura could be dead. He had seen her strength. It just wasn't possible that she could be dead.
The blonde's tongue ran across his lips. "She's. . . She'll be okay."
Sasuke had been about to demand more. He needed to know exactly what happened to his teammate. "I'll make sure of it. We will. Team Seven will never abandon a comrade."
And strangely enough, he believed Naruto. The fierceness which he said it with made Sasuke believe they could do anything. Team Seven would be unstoppable.
Team Seven stood in the Hokage's office, each member still a little twitchy and more than a little nervous.
Sasuke looked like he still belonged in the hospital. His skin was as pale as Sai's and occasionally his hand jumped to the mark on his neck. Naruto had thrown himself at her the instant she was escorted across the threshold; firing off rapid questions of where she had been and if she was okay. Sakura had been fine. There had been no torture like she was expecting. The ANBU locked her in a dark room underground and guarded her around the clock. Kakashi was still recovering from Itachi's Tsukuyomi, but was standing behind them supporting himself with a wooden crutch. Their sensei had thrown Naruto a questioning look as he worried over his pink haired teammate wondering what he had missed while trapped in the illusionary realm.
The Hokage was leveling them with a piercing stare. Exhaustion lined his face. The old man looked like he hadn't slept a wink in the three days since the invasion. She was almost positive that there was a slight bald patch above his right ear.
But Sakura was petrified. The last time she had been before the Sandaime she had ordered Kankuro to stuff him into one of his puppets. She had told him to his face that she followed someone else as Hokage. Her hands clenched so tightly that her fingernails were digging white half circles into her palms.
She didn't regret saving the old man's life. Sakura would never regret saving a life. She was a healer. She was supposed to keep people alive.
But the rosette was absolutely terrified that the Third Hokage would follow through with his threat to revoke her ninja license and order her to be executed or demand she leave the village and never return. Sakura would actually prefer death over the other two options. She could not save the world by baking bread. And to have gotten Konoha back, only to be forbidden to ever step foot inside its gates again, it would crush Sakura.
"Haruno Sakura," the Third Hokage began. "You have gone against the Hokage's direct orders, consorted with a Suna-nin in kidnapping the Hokage," here Kakashi turned a startled eye on her, "endangered yourself and anyone who happened to be nearby. You had cut off people of higher rank than you and if it had gone another way you would have killed many civilians."
The Hokage's words felt like many stabs through the heart to Sakura. She gulped, knowing that her fate was coming next and that she had to accept it with dignity.
"The law is clear in these matters. Your crimes warrant an immediate removal from the rosters. You will never be a Konoha shinobi."
Sakura couldn't stop one tear from leaking from the corner of her eye.
"What?! You can't be serious, Jiji!"
"Naruto."
The blonde bit back the next words he had been going to say, not because the Hokage was reprimanding him and telling him to be silent, but because Sakura had called his name softly.
"Sakura-chan." Naruto's mouth opened and closed a few times, trying to find the words to say.
The pinkette threw her arms around him. "It's okay, Naruto."
"No it's not." Sasuke stepped up next to them.
Sakura's eyes softened as she glanced at her once crush. "Sasuke."
"It's not alright." He repeated angrily. "You're a part of Team Seven. It won't be the same without you." He couldn't lose them now. Sakura couldn't be taken away from them. His team filled a dark void in his heart. Naruto, Sakura, and even Kakashi to an extent, were more than just people he had to put up with every day on his quest to grow stronger. Sasuke couldn't lose one of them before he had a chance to connect and develop bonds and grow stronger with them.
Sakura let her tears flow freely. She was seeing it first hand and she was having trouble accepting the changes in Sasuke. It was almost unbelievable that she and Naruto had managed to change his one track mind in the little time they had been back in the past.
"People who break the rules are trash but people who leave a comrade behind are worse than trash. If you can't be a ninja, then you can be a civilian. And we'll resign too," Naruto said fiercely.
"Right, Sasuke?" Said boy was already nodding in agreement. "You're our teammate. You jump, we jump. We're not leaving you behind."
Sakura sobbed, pulling Sasuke into a three way hug.
If they looked behind them, they would have seen Team Seven's sensei tearing up. Despite the crushing failure he was facing for not being able to keep his team together, Kakashi couldn't be prouder of his students. Both were willing to sacrifice their dreams to keep Sakura with them.
She brushed away her tears. "I can't let you do that. You're going to be Hokage, Naruto. And Sasuke has to get his revenge. So don't worry about me, okay? I'll be fine. Grow stronger. Don't lose sight of your dreams. And keep Sasuke out of trouble."
Sasuke scoffed lightly. It was more like he would need to keep the dobe in line. Sakura's green eyes locked onto Naruto. He knew that she meant for him to continue with the plan and prevent Sasuke from going rogue.
The Third Hokage coughed, ruining Team Seven's sentimental goodbye and earning the glares of its two male members. "I wasn't finished."
Sakura closed her eyes. She wasn't just be stripped of her hitai-ate. Banishment? Execution? She crushed Naruto's and Sasuke's hands. Neither boy complained even though Sakura was certain she had broken a few bones.
Naruto was wracked with guilt. He felt the broken hand was the least he deserved. This was all his fault. He was the one that ordered Sakura to fight Sasori. He had forbidden them from holding back. Sakura's death was going to be on his hands. He briefly wondered if Shikamaru would feel as guilty for his part, since he was the one to suggest they do everything over.
He would never be able to wash the blood away.
"But you have protected our village and its people. You protected the Hokage from an S-class missing-nin and made sure he was out of harm's way. You have fought with a bravery and determination, showing that you were willing to die for your village. The Will of Fire burns brightly in you."
Naruto blinked twice. Did he really hear what he thought? Praise for Sakura's actions and not condemnation? There was a smile on the Sandaime's face.
Sakura sagged between them, only her grip on his and Sasuke's hands was keeping her upright.
Sarutobi still wasn't done. "And that is why I am making you a chunnin. You as well, Sasuke and Naruto. You're actions during the invasion have displayed the maturity, skills, and behavior I expect from a chuunin."
Now all of Team Seven was smiling and laughing, albeit with a touch of hysteria. Uncharacteristically, Sasuke initiated a group hug. The smile on his face looked out of place and normal at the same time.
"Congratulations, new chuunin. I trust there will not be another incident like this one." His heavy gaze fell upon Sakura.
"I won't disobey you again, Hokage-sama." She promised.
And she wasn't lying. Sarutobi wouldn't be the Hokage much longer. And Tsunade was a different matter entirely.
Team Seven left the Hokage's office much happier than they entered it. With one look Naruto and Sakura agreed not to disclose the day's events with the other time travelers. It was a personal matter for Team Seven.
"Ne, Sakura-chan," Naruto asked as the three wandered aimlessly away from the tower. "What would you have done if the old man really took your forehead protector?"
Sasuke turned towards her slightly, as she was walking in the middle.
In answer, she grinned brightly. "I would have gone to Suna. He never said I couldn't join another village. Gaara would have taken me in."
The Third Hokage watched the three from his window overlooking the village.
Team Seven continued to surprise him.
The three newly made chuunin could not be more different. Naruto was bright, loud, and reckless. Sasuke was a black spot, a dark pit with a dark past. Sakura was cheery, naïve, from a civilian family. But they went together like green on leaves.
He had not expected such strong reactions to his display. Off the top of his head, he could only name one other shinobi that would have dropped his career like it was a burning coal and that was Kakashi Hatake.
Sarutobi's eyes followed the girl's pink hair, book ended by the Uchiha's black and Naruto's blonde. He had not forgotten her words in the Kages' box. The meteoric rise in abilities of both her and Naruto did not escape his really was getting much too old for this job. All the political jockeying and secret conspiracies. Now he was at the point of suspecting gennin of treason and dabbling with forbidden jutsus.
He would have to keep a close eye on them. "Tenzou."
A cat ANBU with green and red markings promptly knelt before him. "I need you to monitor Team Kakashi. Particularly Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki."
"Hai, Hokage-sama." The ANBU intoned.